Wow. I thought we actually advanced (no pun intended) as an automotive culture in the last 6 years I've been working on cars with friends (I'm 22 now). "We" sure haven't. Listen to this sh!t.

I pull into the parking lot with the intention of buying a simple 10mm wrench to tighten down my hood latch assembly (just got done rebuilding 98 Civic hatch after wreck) and to find out what size wrench I needed to get my oxygen sensor out/in. I get out of the car and walk in and tell the guy what I need. He asks me if that's my Civic outside. I said, "yes'. He starts talking about how he could roast me with his 95 Cougar, it runs 12's, etc etc...(load of B.S.) I look outside at his car and it's stock with a bunch of ricer stuff from his own store. Wow. So I try to avert the conversation back to what I needed. He kept talking about my car. "You wanna sell it?" BLAH BLAH BLAH (It's a 98 Civic hatch, 99-00 front, JDM options, lowered, suspension stuff, 16" Work knock-offs, ETC you get the point. I plan on autocrossing this year) I said no, it's not for sale, I'm just now getting it finished up for autocross. He says, "Come on! Get some real American Muscle! BLAHDIBLADIE BPBPBPBPBPB" whatever else he said I tuned it out. I finally got him to show me the wrench sets and he tried to sell me standard sizes. I said no, I need metric, it's a foreign car. He argued, I just grabbed the metric set and asked him to ring them up. I bought them, got out to my car, and pull out the 10mm wrench. The closed end wouldn't go on the bolt. The open end of it would. Upon inspection of the wrench, it was defective. I got him to look at it, and his friend who was standing there (who had just wrecklessly slung his new stock Charger into the parking lot moments earlier) proceeded to tell me that the bolts on my car that I'm trying to tighten aren't 10mm. I told him that I just got done putting the ENTIRE front end on my car (obviously because everything in front of the doors is new and factory primer black) and that 90% of the bolts on these Civics are 10mm. I told the employee that the wrench set is defective. They argued with me, saying things like "See?! They IS standard sizes!" and "Put a 12mm on there, that's what it is." so on a so forth. FINALLY the manager comes out the front door with a higher quality 10mm and hands it to me. It pops right on. The friend of the employee gets in his car and does a the hugest, most little-dick-syndrome burnout I've seen in my life and then I go inside. I return the defective wrenches and when the little window on the computer pops up asking him why the product is being returned (didn't like it, wrong product, defective, etc etc) he chose "didn't like it". I told him he might want to enter those as defective, because they, you know, ARE, but he just kind of said "ohhh it's ite" or some sh!t. And that was that! Not only was the ignorance and cheauvanism enough to keep me away from that store, but the cherry on top was the sudden cold image of all the possible defective products sitting on the shelves! Thanks Advance Autoparts! You saved me some hastle in the end!

Bought Ac Compressor, dryer and orfice tube for 2002 Ford Winstar.It quit working 3 days later on the way to Florida.It was installed by a qualified service center. The cost was 375.00 just for installation, the parts wer 300.00. Return the faulty parts back to advance, had to purchase again and fill out papers to send to Advance for reimbursement, plus had to purchase a new condenser which had gone bad due to the compressor coming apart.this time it was over 500.00 for parts.Had everything reinstalled and it was over 500.00 this because of the condenser.Now I spent over 1600.00 and received word from Advance that I would receive no Reimbursement.Warranty is terrible. There is no warranty. You are on your own when dealing with these idiots. They said the reason was the system was not flushed properly the first time. Well the second compressor has been on foe 6 weeks and doing fine. Lame excuse!!!

Advance Auto Parts purchases old car parts, replaces a very minimal amount of whats needed, paints and resells alternators, distributors, starters, carburetors and they are all junk! I have had my problems with them from the past 6 years, with parts that only last one year. Then they say that you cant get a refund unless the part is a manufacturer defect, not worn out! They also have a new theory, that if they test it and it works, then you are stuck with the part.

They really cheat consumers. Ive returned used parts such as sensors, ball joint, and brake pads that looked dirty in the box. This happens at every single store no matter where you go. The customer service is very very bad too. The counter people are as stupid as they come and refuse to help.. they are only trained to sell. Its a shame this happens. The best bet is Napa, or your dealer and get a new part. Plus, for supplies, oil, cleaning, wax, go to Walmart or Target, its much cheaper!!

I purchased a muffler from advance auto parts (AAP) and installed it myself on the same day. I noticed that it did not fit right so assumed it was the wrong part, I am not a muffler guy so how could I know? AAP told me that it was the correct part so I took the muffler to a muffler shop to see if they could make it fit. The muffler shop told me that they could not fix it because it was damaged beyond repair and was clearly a factory defect. I took this information back to AAP and they refused to honor the lifetime warranty. Needless to say that I will never shop at AAP again. I advise readers to do the same.

I was shopping at Advanced Auto Parts today for cleaning supplies. When I was done gathering what I needed, I went up to the counter to get in line. At this point there were 2 employees at the parts counter/register and 5 customers total in 2 different lines waiting to be helped. While I was waiting there, another gentleman walked in with a drive belt and got in line behind me. At the same time, a 3rd employee emerged from the back of the store and stood behind the salesperson who was working the line I was waiting in. He scanned the line and made eye contact with me and as well as the customer behind me. Then, he started a conversation in spanish with the customer behind me laughing and joking around. Now for whatever reason, the salesperson that was helping the customer in front of me walked out the store with his customer and the salesperson having the conversation with the guy behind me stepped forward to take over and I had put my things on the counter to pay. He knew I was next line, but he gestured to the guy behind me to come forward instead and totally ignored me. I politely told the salesperson that I was next, but then looks at me and says something in spanish and laughs in my face! I said excuse me, what did you say? and he just kept laughing. I turned around and started walking out and another customer pulled me aside and told me what the salesperson said.... "speak spanish next time and you might be helped." This made me so mad. At first I wanted to see the manager and he was there but I was so mad, I didnt want to lose my temper and make a fool of myself. So, I went straight home and called the store back directly which was not even 5 minutes later and guess who answered...that same salesperson. I asked to speak with his manager but he said he left an hour ago.. big lie!